Listen to Your Heart
by SilverFoxx666
Summary: For now, this is just up to see how it would hold up. Squall and the gang meet new people and events happen. SqOC, and various other couplings. Please RR.
1. Prologue

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful clear morning at Balamb Garden, a perfect morning to initiate some new SeeDs from last night's test. Surprisingly, Seifer was one of two today getting the news that they passed. Seifer had come back two weeks after the defeat of Ultimecia, with his tail between his legs. Squall wouldn't have allowed him back in Garden if it wasn't for the various stares of pleading from Matron and, shockingly, from Quistis. Since then, Squall has not had a problem nor a regret of his decision.

"Commander. The new SeeDs are here."

"Thank you Xu. Show them in."

The first one to walk in was Jaden December. She was just like Squall in personality but in clothing, she was more like Seifer. Usually she had a silver shirt that set off her thigh high black skirt with black knee high boots. She also had one belt, which had three silver chains on her right hip and a black, sleeveless trench coat. All in all, her style was interesting. Right now, she had her standard SeeD field uniform on, which clashed with her dark red hair. Her eyes were a striking crystal blue, almost gray, with silver specks peeking through.

The next one to enter was Seifer. He was in his usual trench coat but his personality changed somewhat. He actually listens to orders now. Squall was impressed with the effort the Seifer had been showing.

"Jaden…. Good job. You scored nearly a hundred percent in your scores. Never have I seen a female take up the Gunblade. I'm impressed." Squall said handing her the results. He moved to Seifer. "Seifer…. Excellent job. You've shown the most improvement of anyone here at Garden. Now for your first mission. G-Garden is after some sort of weapon in Esthar. Your mission is to protect the President and keep the new weapon out of Galbadia's hands. You leave immediately. That is all."

As everyone else was leaving, Jaden stayed behind. "Um… Sir?" Squall looked back up from the papers that he just got to signing, almost with a 'Thank-Hyne' look on his face..

"Yes Jaden?

"Sq- I mean Sir, what are the specifics? Who the leader? Who's going with us?"

"Tilmitt and I are going with you guys and there will be no team leader. As for specs, well, I'll give those to everyone when we depart."

"Thank you Sir and congratulation on your engagement." Jaden said as she turned to walk out the door. From behind her, she heard Squall push a button and the door locked.

"Care to tell me how you know about that? No one else does."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 2 

Jaden stood there in shock. '_No one_ else knew'? She knew she was good, but not that good. "I can hear what goes on in you Dorm through the vents. It's not my fault that I'm two rooms away."

Squall looked pensive for a good moment before he hit the button and the door unlocked. He turned to the window a made a barely audible sigh.

"But somehow, I don't think you're too excited about marrying her." Squall came out of his thoughts to see her at his side and the door locked once again. He was amazed at her ability to walk silently, and started to think Quistis had trained her a little too well. He also noticed that she didn't have her gunblade with her. "I'm here if you want to talk Commander. I don't know you all that well, but I do see that she is smothering you."

His eyes widened a fraction at her words. 'That's exactly how I feel.' "We best get down there. I noticed you don't have a weapon with you."

Her eyes slightly dimmed and her face turned to the floor. "I don't have the money for a gunblade, especially the one I need. The standard one the school has is too heavy. The instructor lent me his LionHeart for the test. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, after this mission you'll have the money for a Legend. But until you actually get it…" Squall rummaged around the corner behind his desk and brought out his LionHeart . "Take this."

"Commander… this is the weapon that took out Ultimecia. I couldn't."

He lightly brushed the long bangs out of her face before he knew what he was doing. "Think of it as a loan. I won't let you say no." He realized that his hand was still cupping her face and he immediately dropped it to his side. "We better get to our dorms and change so we can leave" He realized what he just said and how it sounded.

Jaden stood there, eyes wide open, as she watch her Commander blush. It was a sight to see and she almost wished she brought her camera…._ almost._ Then she remembered what was in her hands, Squall's LionHeart. It was almost what she dreamed. "Thank You!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around his waist by reflex. The hug lasted all of a millisecond before Jaden realized she was hugging her CO. She quickly let go and flashed him a bright smile before walking out the door, heart pounding.

As the doors of the elevator closed, her smile faded. 'I bet he thinks I'm a total nut now. I'm such a moron.' She though as she banged her head on the side of the elevator, hard.

Back with Squall

Squall stood there dumbfounded as to what happed. 'It's almost like my hand was possessed. I couldn't stand to see her sad. But what about Rinoa? Hell, Zell loves her more than me and just the other day he told me that he couldn't stand her.'

_May I interject something Squall?_

'Yes Shiva?'

_You like her. And she's right. The little brown-haired tart is smothering you.'_

'Shiva!'

_Well she is. Anyway, back to the girl. She just transferred here correct?_

'Yes. From Trabia. Why?'

_Well she doesn't have a GF. She never got hers._

'WHAT!'

_You heard me. I think she'd be good with Numari. _

'But no one has been able to get along with Numari. She causes everyone to go crazy.'

_She doesn't do it on purpose. She needs a partner like I have you. I'll talk to Numari. Get her._

'Why are you so adamant about this?'

_I sensed something in her. When in Esthar, separate into teams of two. Seifer with Selfie, and Jaden with you. Give it to her then._

'Okay.'

All of this conversation with Shiva was done while Squall was walking to his Dorm. If he was paying attention, he would have noticed Jaden waiting at his door for him.

"Commander… I'm sorry for how I behaved earlier and I wanted to tell you that the others already left."


	3. Chapter 2

' ' Squall thinking

_stuff in italics _Jaden/Squall talking to Squall/Jaden in his/her head

Chapter 3 

"I'll take care of it." Squall said as he opened the door. "Come on in."

Squall's Dorm was a lot cleaner than his office. The only mess that was there, were some papers on his coffee table.

"You really hate paperwork, don't you?" Jaden asked Squall as he moved to his room. The papers were about the new budget and other things that he needed to sign.

"How did you guess?" He replied sarcastically.

"You do have a sense of humor, albeit dry." Jaden covered her mouth after the words came out. She couldn't believe she said that. " Mf mm mmfph."

"It might make more sense to _uncover _your mouth." Squall said, eyebrow raised. He had a good idea what she said, but he _needed_ to hear it.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that or to make it how it sounded."

The expression on her face was priceless. Her mouth was open in shock of what she said and her eyes looked horrified, like he was going to wield his gunblade and kill her.

"Come on, we'll go to Timber, tell Rinoa where we're going and ask her if she wants to come."

"Oh…joy." she replied, putting on a fake smile.' Little tart.' She added in her mind as she followed Squall out the door.

It took them 20 minutes just to get to Balamb City because of all the Bite Bugs. When they got into the city, Jaden looked longingly at the hotel thinking of the beds that were there, but decided not to say anything from the look on Squall's face as they approached the train station.

"Two tickets for Timber." Squall stated.

"Here you go commander, but you should know that the train isn't going to be here tomorrow. Might I suggest staying at the hotel, the lady looks tuckered out." Squall noticed, for the first time, how he was acting and felt immediately sorry for his death march all the way here. She was in her normal trench coat ensemble but her face was flushed and she looked like she was about to drop anytime.

"December, we're going to the hotel. Can you make it?"

"Yes sir." Truth was, she wasn't sure. She had just pulled two all-nighters and she was exhausted. It probably showed in her fighting today… and in front of Squall as well. She wanted to show him she could do it, that she could handle being a SeeD, that she was worthy of him. Her inauguration was two days ago, then the ball and then the wedding the following day. 'Oh, wait, it's three days without sleep. Can't forget the field test can we.'

When she stumbled a second time, Squall did something that surprised even him. He picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.

'She doesn't look well.'

Of course she doesn't Squall. She's running on two out of five day's sleep. She needs a bed and food. Oh, and she already passed out.

'Gee, thanks Shiva.'

Squall looked down at Jaden when he got to the door of the hotel. She looked so peaceful, he hated to see her so exhausted. As he thought of that, his heart ached a little and brought her tighter to his chest.

"Sir?"

Somehow, he managed to walk to the front desk with his eyes glued to Jaden's sleeping form. "One room, two beds please."

"I'm sorry commander, but all we have is the bridal room left."

"That will do."

"Top floor. Only door. Have a nice rest."

"How much for two days?"

"300G sir."

Squall handed the money over without much of a fuss and turned to go up the stairs but the attendant stopped by asking the question of food.

"Send up some nutrient drinks and some food in two hours… please."

He took the stairs two at a time and not before long he had reached the room that he had gotten. 'Room… this is more like a suite.' He thought as he looked around the room for the bedroom. As it turned out, there was no bedroom door and you could see the bed from the kitchen. The room itself was done in a light blue color with sandy brown furniture. A white bedspread adorned the bed with coordinating blue and brown pillows. All in all, the room was too bright for him.

Squall carefully laid Jaden on the bed and without thinking, his rebellious hand moved some hair from her closed eyes. Once he noticed what he was doing, he started to pull his hand away but Jaden leaned into his hand and whispered; "don't leave me." Squall's eyes opened wide as he thought of all the things Rinoa has said to him. That wasn't one of them.

"What are you doing to me December?" Squall whispered as he lied down on the other side of the bed and slowly drifted off into a light sleep.

Squall's eyes snapped open as his brain acknowledged the banging on the door.

'It must be the food I ordered.'

Then he realized the position they were in He must have slept deeper than he thought because he didn't notice her moving around. Her head was on top of his chest and one of her legs was wrapped around his. She looked so comfortable that he almost felt sorry for moving.

While he was battling with his logical and emotional side, Jaden had gotten up, walked to the door half asleep, told the kid where to put the food, walked back into the room still on automatic. She stuck her hand in Squall's pocket which snapped him out of his inner conversation, got a couple of lucs from his pocket, gave them to the kid, then came back and went back to her previous position and went back to sleep.

Squall just lay there, wide eyed. He couldn't believe that. She did that on automatic, not knowing what it was but still. 'It was almost like she knew that I didn't want to move and the fact that I would have snapped at the boy rather than tip him is not a hidden fact, but still… Quistis trained he to be totally silent… not good… for me.'

As Jaden cuddled back up next to him and fell back into sleep, Squall was still battling his mind when Jaden's voice sounded in his head.

_Squall… shut up and go to sleep._

'Jaden?'

Yes. Now go to sleep.

'But how?'

_Oh for the love of Hyne… look, does it truly matter in the long run?_

'I guess not, but I just want to know.'

Jaden's eyes snapped open with fury and rolled so she was on top of an awake Squall. He never saw it coming…

"Sorry Squall… SLEEP!"

As the spell hit him, she heard him in her head.

Jaden… 

'Sorry but you need to sleep… I mean really sleep. I'll be right here.'

He suddenly stopped struggling against the spell and there was silence in the room. 'That should knock you and you brain out for eight hours or so.'

Before she fell back to sleep, she took in his beauty. She kissed his cheek before settling into his shoulder and fell into a deep healing sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 4 

Two bodies slept as the sun slowly set and night graced the land. The silvery moon bathed the two so that they almost glowed from the light. A pair of stormy blue eyes snapped open after eight hours of sleep. Just like Jaden promised.

'Jaden. You awake?'

_Huh…oh. Sorry about that sir. I didn't mean to snap at you._

'Never mind that… when were you going to tell me you were exhausted? And how can you talk in my mind. I'm Rinoa's knight, you shouldn't be able to.'

He watched silently as Jaden sat up taking her mind out of his. She actually distanced herself from him physically and mentally. When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper. He could barely hear her.

"I was trying to prove that I was worthy of being SeeD. I am the only female to master the gunblade. If that didn't make me enough of a freak, let's throw in the fact that I am so silent, no one likes talking to me because I can out talk them and then disappear. I have to prove that I'm worthy and good enough to be a SeeD."

He watched silently as this young girl shake with frustration and unshed tears. Squall opened his mouth to say something else but she spoke again.

"I have no idea about the other question. I try not to and to control it but your mind was just too loud. Sometimes I connect without knowing that I do. I'm sorry."

"Jaden, you don't have to prove anything. You already did on your exams. And I am honored to fight along side you in any type on battle; on a field or in Garden."

"Thank you Squall for that. I needed to hear it." Jaden said with a tiny smile on her face.

"Good then. Are you up for food?" He answered with his own smile.

"Those poor cooks. They cooked us food earlier and we didn't eat it."

"I'm sure it's still edible. Come on. You must be hungry." Squall said pulling on her hand.

"Famished. Are you okay? You're acting different."

"Something just tells me I should be like this tonight."

"Okay, okay. I'm up, you crazy commander."

Squall, at hearing that comment, raised an eyebrow at Jaden, who just smiled brightly at him. As they walked to the table, neither one of them realized that their hands were still interlocked. Jaden was the first one to notice once they got to the table. She blushed as she took her hand away from his and sat down. With her head down, she began to eat wondering what in Hyne has gotten into her.

After they had finished in silence, Squall and Jaden had gotten ready to go to Timber for Rinoa. All the meanwhile, Jaden kept reminding herself that Squall was taken and was engaged.

'Little tart.'


	5. Chapter 4

A.N 

If you liked this story so far, I urge you to review. Also I'm also game for any ideas for a title.

Depending on what people say, I might continue the story. I just can't tell if it's any good.

-Kat


	6. Chapter 5

A.N 2 

Okay guys. I am sorry but I have no longer the time or the drive to write this story. However, the next "chapter" is the plot that I had typed up. Think of it as a "write your own story using the plot". It has always been fun for me to take a plot and challenge myself. I thank all who have read my story.

-Kat


	7. Chapter 6

Settings: 

Balamb Garden- 4 years after the defeat of Ultimecia

Train

Timber-when Rinoa dies

FH

Esthar- SeeD mission

Balamb Garden

Balamb- an attack

Esthar-Jaden runs away

Galbadia- the battle

Balamb Garden- aftermath

Plot 

The beginning of the story in Garden after the field test. Jaden, Seifer become the new SeeD's. Squall and Jaden become friends.

Jaden's last name is December.

She likes Squall.

Gets a near perfect on her test.

Best friends with Cry.

Poor

Rank 8 SeeD.

Weapon of choice: Gunblade

From Trabia

Biological sister to Irvine. Irvine doesn't know.

Get their first mission as SeeD's

Go to Esthar to protect Laguna and the new weapon Esthar created.

Squall and Jaden talk about his engagement to Rinoa.

Rinoa is smothering Squall

Squall starts to get more of a personality.

Jaden hugs Squall.

Shiva doesn't like Rinoa

The other's already left

Train ride.

Squall calls Laguna that they will be late arriving.

Jaden and Squall walk to Balamb City where they buy two tickets to Timber

Train doesn't leave until next day. Hotel only has one room.

They get on train where they meet with Zell and Quisty.

They get to Timber where Squall hears about the attack on Timber.

Rinoa is dead.

Rinoa's sorceress powers go into Jaden

Jaden comforts Squall.

Memorial

They leave Timber. Go to Balamb and take a boat to FH.

FH.

To stock up on supplies and water

Esthar

Finally arrive in Esthar where Jaden meets Laguna

Laguna give them two rooms

Jaden climbs into bed with Squall and goes to sleep.

Next morning Squall tells all about Rinoa's death

Squall splits everyone into four teams. Zell/Quisty, Seifer/Selpie, Squall/ Jaden.

Jaden gets her temperamental GF. Numari

Squall is depressed and goes introverted again.

The reader finds out what the weapon is

The group leave for Garden on the Ragnarok

Balamb Garden

After a week and a meeting, Squall goes immediately to the training center

Everyone goes to his or her Dorms.

Jaden heads to the training center

Squall is fighting a T-Rex without magic

Jaden intervenes when Squall is losing

Almost kiss.

Squall leaves

Jaden packs and leaves LionHeart on her bed

Buys the upgraded Legend in Balamb City

Gets on the train

Balamb

Squall finds out that Jaden isn't there and blames himself

Figures out what Jaden means to him.

Leaves on Ragnarok

Esthar

Laguna finds a battered and bruised Jaden

Reader finds out that Jaden is the biological sister of Irvine

Jaden was raped on her way to Esthar

Jaden has a secret

Tell Laguna a little about life at Garden and how she misses her best friend.

Laguna asks who best friend is. Jaden tells him about Cry.

A few days later. Laguna finds Jaden crying. Jaden states that he knows that she loves Squall

Squall arrived to hear this.

Squall shows himself. Jaden runs to her room

Laguna tells Squall what condition he found her in

Squall falls into a chair. Irvine goes to find Jaden

Irvine finds out that he has a sister

Numari urges Jaden to tell Squall her secret

Irvine leaves. Squall enters.

Squall tells Jaden that her missed her

They kiss.

Squall becomes Jaden's knight.

Jaden tells Squall everything about her past.

Galbadia

Zell calls Squall to let them know that Galbadia is getting ready to attack Esthar.

Zell and the others arrive the eve before the attack.

The attack occurs. Rinoa's voice says something to Squall and Jaden.

Squall almost loses Jaden forever.

Something happens to Jaden's body as light shoots out of it.

Galbadia retreats and Jaden still hasn't woken up.

Squall stays by her side as Laguna's doctors look at her.

She finally wakes after a week and Squall asks a question.

Balamb

Celebration of two events…

The End


End file.
